Assuming the Localism Bill is eventually published it will be of keen interest to the London Mayor. Hints and promises about new powers wafted about in the run up to May's election and in June Boris published his own proposals for devolution, which included more direct mayoral control over housing provision, the Olympics legacy and policing. He'll probably get them and more. But what exactly will they amount to and what will he seek to do with them?
This is also (probably) the week when London's poorer boroughs will learn precisely how completely Eric Pickles intends to destroy their budgets. For all the unseemly wriggling and denying we can be sure that the cuts will be huge and that authorities like Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Barking and Dagenham will be forced to make some extremely uncomfortable decisions. In Lewisham, the local Mayor Sir Steve Bullock has already invited community groups to come forward to save public libraries. He might have set a trend.
Tonight, Boris will be the star attraction at the GLA's Christmas carol concert in Southwark Cathedral. He'd best fortify himself with all the seasonal goodwill he can eat because with the Conservative-led coalition set to clobber London with the Big Society, the Conservative Mayor might find it in short supply on Wednesday morning at the final Mayor's Question Time of the year.
